9 Parts of Speech in English - English Grammar Lesson

Summary

This video script from Oxford Online English introduces the nine parts of speech in English, explaining their roles in sentence structure and grammar. It clarifies common misconceptions, such as the number of parts of speech, and delves into the complexities of parts like adjectives, adverbs, and prepositions. The lesson emphasizes the importance of context in determining a word's part of speech and encourages viewers to practice identifying these in sentences. It concludes with an invitation to engage further with a quiz on their website.

Takeaways

• 🔢 There are nine parts of speech in English, not eight as some sources may incorrectly state.
• 📚 Nouns can represent concrete things, people, animals, as well as abstract concepts like ideas and emotions.
• 🏃 Verbs can express actions or describe states of being, and they are crucial for constructing sentences.
• 🎨 Adjectives are used to describe nouns, providing details about the noun's qualities or characteristics.
• 🕰️ Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, other adverbs, or even entire sentences, adding depth to the actions or states they describe.
• 👤 Pronouns stand in for nouns, helping to avoid repetition and clarify references within a conversation.
• 🔗 Prepositions link nouns or pronouns to other words, indicating relationships of time, place, or direction.
• 🔗 Conjunctions serve to connect words, phrases, or clauses, aiding in the flow and structure of sentences.
• 📌 Determiners precede nouns and help to specify or quantify the noun, providing context for what is being discussed.
• 😲 Interjections are expressive words or phrases that convey emotion and are not typically part of the sentence structure.
• 🔄 Words can have multiple parts of speech, and their classification can depend on their function within a sentence.
• 🔍 Analyzing parts of speech involves considering the context and the role each word plays in conveying the sentence's meaning.

Q & A

What is the main topic of the lesson in the provided transcript?

The main topic of the lesson is the parts of speech in English and their functions in sentence structure and grammar.

How many parts of speech are there in English according to the transcript?

There are nine parts of speech in English.

What are the nine parts of speech mentioned in the transcript?

The nine parts of speech are nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions, determiners, and interjections.

What is a noun and what types of things can it represent?

A noun is a part of speech that can represent things, animals, people, ideas, or abstract concepts such as 'doctor', 'pencil', 'tree', 'cat', 'idea', 'happiness', 'time', or 'money'.

How can verbs be categorized based on the transcript?

Verbs can be categorized as actions, like 'do', 'run', 'fly', 'win', or as states, like 'be', 'love', 'believe', 'understand'.

What is the function of adjectives in a sentence?

Adjectives describe nouns, providing attributes such as 'red', 'big', 'metal', 'beautiful'.

What is the role of adverbs and how can they be used?

Adverbs describe verbs, indicating how an action is performed (e.g., 'quickly', 'loudly'), or they can describe adjectives, other adverbs, or even whole sentences, adding information (e.g., 'very', 'unfortunately', 'sometimes').

What is a pronoun and why is it used in sentences?

A pronoun is a part of speech that replaces or represents nouns (e.g., 'I', 'you', 'she', 'they'), used to avoid repetition or to refer to something when the context makes it clear what is being referred to.

What is a preposition and what basic functions can it perform?

A preposition is a part of speech that usually precedes a noun or noun phrase, adding an idea of time, place, or movement to the noun, or connecting other words to a noun or pronoun (e.g., 'on', 'in', 'towards').

What is a conjunction and what does it connect in a sentence?

A conjunction is a part of speech that connects two words, phrases, or clauses, such as 'and', 'or', 'but', 'although', serving to link elements in a sentence.

What is a determiner and how does it function in a sentence?

A determiner is a part of speech that precedes a noun and helps to specify which noun is being referred to, indicating possession (e.g., 'my', 'your') or quantity (e.g., 'ten', 'some', 'both').

What is an interjection and how does it differ from other parts of speech?

An interjection is a part of speech that expresses emotion or surprise and is typically not part of the sentence structure, used to convey feelings like 'Wow!', 'Ah, crap!', 'No way!'.

Can words in English serve more than one part of speech and why is this important to understand?

Yes, many words in English can be more than one part of speech, which is important to understand because it allows for flexibility in language use and can affect the meaning of a sentence based on context.

How can phrases be considered in terms of parts of speech and why is this perspective useful?

Phrases can be considered as a single part of speech when they refer to one thing collectively, which is useful for understanding the overall meaning of a sentence rather than focusing on individual words.

What is the importance of analyzing parts of speech in different layers and perspectives?

Analyzing parts of speech in different layers and perspectives allows for a deeper understanding of sentence structure and meaning, acknowledging that there is not always a single 'correct' way to analyze a sentence.

Where can viewers find more practice on understanding parts of speech in English?

Viewers can find more practice on understanding parts of speech in English on the Oxford Online English website, where they can also take a quiz to check their understanding.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Introduction to English Parts of Speech

Kasia introduces the lesson on parts of speech in English, emphasizing their importance for understanding sentence structure and grammar. She clarifies a common misconception by stating there are nine parts of speech, not eight, and begins listing and explaining them, starting with nouns and verbs. Nouns represent things, animals, people, ideas, or abstract concepts, while verbs can express actions or states. The lesson promises to explore the complexities and provide practice opportunities.

05:00

🔍 Deep Dive into Adjectives, Adverbs, and Pronouns

This paragraph delves into the roles of adjectives, which describe nouns, and adverbs, which can modify verbs, adjectives, other adverbs, or entire sentences. Adjectives and adverbs are characterized as descriptive words that add information. Pronouns are introduced as substitutes for nouns, used to avoid repetition or refer to something previously mentioned. The explanation includes examples to illustrate the usage of each part of speech.

10:03

📐 Understanding Prepositions, Conjunctions, Determiners, and Interjections

The lesson continues with prepositions, which can indicate time, place, or movement and connect words to nouns or pronouns. Conjunctions are explained as connectors of words, phrases, or clauses. Determiners are described as words that precede nouns to specify or indicate possession or quantity. Interjections are highlighted as expressive words or phrases that convey emotion but are not typically part of a sentence structure. The paragraph also includes practice sentences for viewers to identify parts of speech.

15:06

🤔 Analyzing Word Functions and Phrases in Context

This section addresses the complexity of parts of speech by discussing how words can serve multiple functions and how context determines their role in a sentence. It explains that some words are inherently one part of speech, while others can be versatile. The paragraph uses examples to show how the same word can change its part of speech depending on its function, such as 'few' acting as a determiner or a pronoun. It also touches on the concept of noun phrases and how they can be analyzed at different levels of granularity.

🧐 Advanced Analysis of Parts of Speech in Sentences

The final paragraph focuses on advanced analysis techniques for parts of speech, encouraging learners to consider the sentence's meaning in the real world. It suggests that there is not always a single 'correct' way to analyze a sentence, but rather multiple perspectives that can be valid. The paragraph provides examples of sentences and suggests different ways to group words into phrases or analyze individual words, emphasizing the importance of choosing the perspective that makes the most sense in context.

Keywords

💡Parts of Speech

Parts of speech refer to the different categories of words that play distinct roles in sentences. In the video, the nine parts of speech in English are introduced: nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions, determiners, and interjections. Understanding these parts of speech is crucial for grasping English grammar and sentence structure. For instance, the script explains that nouns can represent things, animals, people, ideas, or abstract concepts, and verbs can represent actions or states.

💡Nouns

Nouns are a part of speech that represent people, places, things, or ideas. In the video, nouns are exemplified with words like 'doctor,' 'pencil,' 'tree,' and 'cat,' which are concrete nouns, as well as 'idea,' 'happiness,' 'time,' and 'money,' which are abstract nouns. Nouns are fundamental to constructing the subjects and objects of sentences, providing the backbone of communication about entities and concepts.

💡Verbs

Verbs are action words that express what the subject of a sentence does or is. The video distinguishes between action verbs like 'do,' 'run,' 'fly,' and 'win,' and state verbs like 'be,' 'love,' 'believe,' and 'understand.' Verbs are essential for conveying the actions and states in a sentence, giving life and movement to the narrative.

💡Adjectives

Adjectives are used to describe or modify nouns. They provide additional information about the noun's qualities, such as 'red,' 'big,' 'metal,' or 'beautiful.' In the script, adjectives are highlighted as descriptors that add color and detail to nouns, enriching the language and making descriptions more vivid and precise.

💡Adverbs

Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, other adverbs, or even entire sentences. They describe how, when, where, or to what extent something occurs. The video gives examples like 'quickly,' 'loudly,' 'angrily,' or 'well,' and also explains that adverbs can add information to a sentence, as in 'Unfortunately, they missed the train.' Adverbs are versatile and can provide depth to the actions and qualities described in a sentence.

💡Pronouns

Pronouns are words that take the place of nouns to avoid repetition or to refer to something previously mentioned. The video lists 'I,' 'you,' 'she,' 'they,' and 'there' as examples of pronouns. Pronouns are vital for maintaining the flow of speech and writing, allowing for concise and clear communication without the need to repeatedly state the same noun.

💡Prepositions

Prepositions are used to show relationships between nouns or pronouns and other words in a sentence, often indicating time, place, or direction. The script mentions 'on,' 'in,' 'towards,' and 'at' as examples. Prepositions are key to creating clear and logical connections within a sentence, helping to situate actions and objects in context.

💡Conjunctions

Conjunctions are words that connect words, phrases, or clauses. The video mentions 'and,' 'or,' and 'although' as examples. Conjunctions are crucial for linking ideas and creating coherence in sentences, allowing for the expression of complex thoughts and relationships between different parts of a sentence.

💡Determiners

Determiners are words that introduce a noun or a noun phrase and provide information about the noun's specificity or quantity. The video includes 'a,' 'the,' 'this,' 'that,' 'my,' 'your,' 'his,' 'her,' 'ten,' 'some,' and 'both' as determiners. Determiners help to clarify which noun is being referred to and can indicate possession or quantity.

💡Interjections

Interjections are words or phrases that express emotion or surprise and are not typically part of the grammatical structure of a sentence. Examples from the video include 'Wow!', 'Ah, crap!', and 'No way!'. Interjections are used to convey strong feelings or reactions and can add a layer of emotion or emphasis to spoken or written language.

💡Phrases

Phrases are groups of words that work together to convey a single concept or idea. The video discusses how phrases can function as parts of speech, such as 'a small spoonful of brown sugar' being considered a noun phrase. Understanding phrases is important for analyzing complex sentences and recognizing how multiple words can combine to form a single part of speech.

Highlights

Introduction to learning about parts of speech in English.

Misleading information about only eight parts of speech in English; there are actually nine.

Definition and examples of nouns, including both concrete and abstract nouns.

Explanation of verbs, including action verbs and state verbs.

Adjectives described as descriptors of nouns with examples.

Adverbs detailed as modifiers of verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and sentences, with examples.

Pronouns as substitutes for nouns to avoid repetition or clarify meaning.

Prepositions' roles in indicating time, place, movement, and connecting words.

Conjunctions as connectors of words, phrases, and clauses with examples.

Determiners' function to specify or quantify nouns with examples.

Interjections as expressions of feelings, distinct from other parts of speech.

Practical exercise to identify parts of speech in sample sentences.

Discussion on the flexibility of word classification based on sentence context.

Explanation of how phrases can function as single parts of speech.

The importance of considering real-world meaning when analyzing sentence structure.

Different layers of sentence analysis and the choice of perspective based on context.

Challenge practice with sentences to apply understanding of parts of speech.

Final thoughts on the significance of context in parts of speech analysis.

Resource recommendation for further practice on the Oxford Online English website.

Transcripts

Hi, I’m Kasia.

Welcome to Oxford Online English!

In this lesson, you can learn about parts of speech in English.

How many parts of speech are there in English?

Can you name them, and explain what they do?

Understanding parts of speech—nouns, verbs, adjectives, and so on—can help you to understand

English sentence structure and how English grammar works.

In this class, you’ll learn the basic information about parts of speech, you’ll see some ways

that parts of speech can be more complicated than you might expect, and you’ll have several

chances to practice!

So, first question: how many parts of speech are there?

Well, I did a Google search, and many of the top results said ‘eight’.

So there must be eight parts of speech in English.

Wrong!

There are nine.

Ah, what are they?

Number one: nouns.

Nouns can be things, animals, or people, like doctor, pencil, tree or cat.

Nouns can also be ideas or abstract things, like idea, happiness, time or money.

Number two: verbs.

Verbs can be actions, like do, run, fly or win.

Verbs can also describe states, like be, love, believe or understand.

Number three: adjectives.

Adjectives describe nouns.

For example: red, big, metal, or beautiful.

Number four: adverbs.

Adverbs can describe verbs, meaning they describe how someone does something.

For example, quickly, loudly, angrily or well.

Adverbs can also describe adjectives, other adverbs, or even whole sentences.

For example, very is an adverb which can describe an adjective—very slow—or another adverb—very

slowly.

Unfortunately or sometimes are adverbs which can be used to add information to a whole

sentence.

For example:

Unfortunately, they missed the train and were late to their own wedding!

Sometimes, I wish I’d made different choices in life.

So, adverbs are a little more complicated.

Here’s a good way to remember it: adjectives and adverbs both describe other words.

They are both used to add information to something else.

Adjectives describe nouns, and adverbs describe everything else: verbs, adjectives, adverbs

and whole sentences.

Number five: pronouns.

Pronouns replace or represent nouns.

For example, I, you, she or they are pronouns which represent different people.

You use pronouns to avoid repeating the same word, or to refer to something when it’s

obvious what you mean.

For example:

How was the weather there?

There is a pronoun which refers to a place.

If you’ve already mentioned the place you’re talking about, you don’t need to say it

again.

Another example:

Give me two, please.

Two is a pronoun which refers to a quantity of something which has already been mentioned.

The person you’re talking to already knows what you’re talking about.

Number six: prepositions.

Prepositions usually go before a noun or noun phrase.

What’s their job?

Prepositions can do two basic things: first, they can add an idea of time, place, or movement

to a noun.

For example:

on Wednesday in the corner

towards the door

Secondly, prepositions can connect other words to a noun, or a pronoun.

For example, think about the verb depend on.

The preposition on connects the verb depend to the object of the verb.

For example:

It depends on the cost.

Usually, the noun or noun phrase goes after the preposition.

However, sometimes the preposition can link to a noun (or pronoun) earlier in the sentence.

For example:

What does it depend on?

Here, on links to the pronoun what.

Conjunctions.

Conjunctions connect two things.

A conjunction can connect two words:

I like cake and ice-cream.

A conjunction can connect two phrases:

Do you want to go now or wait till this afternoon?

You can also use a conjunction to connect two clauses:

Although I’ve been trying to learn for years, I’m still really bad at drawing.

Number eight: determiners

Determiners go before a noun.

They include words like a, the, this or that, which help to specify which noun you’re

talking about.

Words like my, your, his, her, etc. are also determiners.

They specify which noun you’re talking about by saying who something belongs to.

Determiners can also tell you how many of something there are.

Look at three examples:

ten bananas some people

both of my brothers

The words ten, some and both are determiners.

Number nine: interjections

Interjections are different, because they aren’t normally part of a sentence.

Interjections are words or phrases which show how you feel.

For example:

Wow!

Ah, crap!

No way!

So, now you know about the nine parts of speech in English.

Let’s practice!

Look at three sentences.

Each sentence has five words.

1.

They told me about it.

2.

Look in the big cupboard.

3.

Put it there, but carefully.

Can you identify which part of speech each word is?

Pause the video and think about your answers.

How did you do?

Could you identify the parts of speech correctly?

Let’s look at one more.

I’m staying in this evening.

What part of speech are these words?

Think about it.

So, I is a pronoun, am is a verb, and staying is also a verb.

What about in?

Did you say it’s a preposition?

It’s not a preposition; it’s an adverb.

How does this work?

We had the word in in one of the sentences you saw before, and it was a preposition.

So, what’s going on?

Some words can only be one thing.

For example, the words independence or hair can only be nouns.

Believe and destroy can only be verbs.

However, many words can be more than one part of speech.

There are two things happening here.

First, a word can be two different things, which have the same written form and the same

pronunciation.

Think about the word win.

Is it a noun or a verb?

It can be both.

I’m sure they’ll win the game this weekend.

We’ll be hoping for a win in the big game this weekend.

Many words are like this.

Red can be an adjective or a noun.

What do you think about this red for the kitchen?

I like that red top she was wearing.

This is very common: very often, a word with one written form can be two (or more) different

parts of speech.

We told you there are two things happening here; what’s the other?

Sometimes, a word can be different parts of speech depending on its function in the sentence.

Look at two sentences:

I have a few photos of my grandparents.

Sure, you can have a few.

Here’s a question: what part of speech is few in these sentences?

In the first sentence, few is a determiner; in the second, it’s a pronoun.

Can you explain why this is?

Think about what few does in these two sentences.

In the first sentence, few adds a quantity to the noun photos.

It tells us how many photos you have.

This makes it a determiner.

In the second sentence, few replaces a noun.

You don’t know which noun it replaces, but in context, you would understand what the

person meant.

Maybe it was ‘a few biscuits’, or ‘a few pieces of paper.’

We don’t know!

But, you do know that few replaces a noun, which makes it a pronoun.

Another example is the sentence we saw before:

I’m staying in this evening.

Prepositions go with nouns, and connect nouns to other words in the sentence.

In here doesn’t go with a noun, so it can’t be a preposition.

In here means ‘at home’, and it adds information to the verb stay.

What kind of words add information to verbs?

Adverbs!

So, in is an adverb.

Wait a minute, did we ever finish explaining what parts of speech are in this sentence?

You’re right!

We didn’t.

Let’s do it now.

You need to say what parts of speech the words this evening are.

Can you do it?

Maybe you said that this is a determiner, and evening is a noun.

That’s technically correct, but it’s not the best answer.

The best answer is that this evening is an adverb.

How do you explain that?

Until now, you’ve seen single words, and how single words can be nouns, verbs, etc.

However, when you’re thinking about parts of speech, you can’t just think about single

words.

Phrases can also be nouns, verbs, adjectives, and so on.

Let’s do an example:

Add a small spoonful of brown sugar, then turn the heat down and stir the mixture gently.

Think about the first part of this sentence: add a small spoonful of brown sugar.

What parts of speech do we have here?

Of course, you can go through it word by word.

You can say, add is a verb, a is a determiner, small is an adjective and so on.

But, is that the most useful way of looking at it?

It makes more sense to see this as a verb—add—and a noun—a small spoonful of brown sugar.

The noun is made up of several parts of speech: determiners, adjectives, prepositions and

nouns, but together they have one meaning.

These words refer to one thing.

You can analyse a sentence in several different layers.

So, you can see a small spoonful of brown sugar as six individual words, or one noun

phrase.

You could also see it as three parts: a determiner—a small spoonful, a preposition—of, and a

noun—brown sugar.

Confused?

We understand!

You want to know the answer.

You want to know which way is ‘correct’.

There isn’t one ‘correct’ way to say this.

There are different perspectives.

A better question is: which perspective makes more sense?

In this sentence, a small spoonful of brown sugar refers to one thing in the world.

So it makes sense to think of it as one part of speech in the sentence.

What about the second part of the sentence?

How would you analyse the parts of speech?

As you saw before, there isn’t one right answer, but here’s a suggestion.

The sentence contains a conjunction—then, and then two verb phrases linked with the

conjunction and.

This makes sense because the sentence is telling you to do two things: turn the heat down and

stir the mixture gently.

So, it makes sense to see turn the heat down as one part of speech, because it’s telling

you do to one thing.

Let’s put these ideas together.

First, when you think about parts of speech, you can’t just memorise information.

You have to look at each sentence individually, and think about what each word is doing.

Secondly, always think about what the sentence means in the real world.

Sentences aren’t abstract things; they refer to real people, real things and real actions.

There is always more than one way to analyse the parts of speech in a sentence: choose

the way that makes sense based on what the sentence is telling you about real life!

Let’s do a more challenging practice exercise so you can see these ideas in action.

Look at three sentences:

Amazing!

It’s way better than I ever thought it would be.

She was an amazing clinician, who came up with many innovative ways to treat patients.

I don’t believe it!

How would you analyse the parts of speech in these sentences?

Think about the ideas we talked about in the last section.

Does it make sense to break the sentences into individual words, or is it better to

group words into phrases?

Pause the video and think about your ideas.

Ready?

Here are our answers.

You can pause the video again to look at these in more detail.

Notice how the same word can be different parts of speech in different sentences.

For example, amazing is an interjection in one sentence, and an adjective in another.

Notice also the different layers of analysis.

For example, look at the phrase many innovative ways.

You can see this as one noun phrase, or as a determiner plus a noun phrase, or as three

individual parts: a determiner, an adjective and a noun.

Which is correct?

They all are!

Choose the perspective which makes more sense to you.

Want more practice with this topic?

Check out the full version of this lesson on our website: Oxford Online English dot

com.

You can practice with a quiz to check your understanding of parts of speech in English.

Thanks for watching!

See you next time!